With some long, quiet night watches, both V and L have had time to reflect. Sorry for any repetition....

On nights like this, it is easy to see how someone came up with a film concept of a “ghost ship”. It is 00:20, S/V Canopus is eerily quiet with nothing more than the gentle chugging of the diesel. Everyone is in bed and asleep. The sea has turned to a mill pond and there is an eerie mist hanging low around the whole vessel. Even the constant clang of rigging has disappeared. As we head towards the worlds of Scylla and Charybdis, maybe the shadows of Odysseus himself will appear! Is a recently commissioned Radar adequate against such apparitions? 

Actually I shouldn’t joke - we are reading the Greek myths and legends with the kids. Given we are due to transit of the straits of Messina in less than 24hrs we have just done Scilla and Charybdis. It is fair to say that S wants to go the long way around Sicily!

And what a difference a couple of days make. Albania is an intriguing country. With a remarkable history dominated by Byzantine growth followed by Ottoman expansion and more recently communism followed by overt capitalism. The country is awash with contradiction. A Byzantine church with remarkable religious art work peaking through a Communist white wash, the lush natural spring of the “blue eye” (which runs at 7m/s!) sitting in a haze of ash from nearby mountain fires (being fought valiantly by a single Greek fire fighting plane) and the not-so-gentle thumping of Albanian dance music and noise of opulence (or at least aspiration) coming from Sarande as you travel passed the hydro electric power stations whose names are changed depending on political favour - Stalin, Lenin, Mao and most recently Türkiye. With the inevitable rises in price (particularly with real estate being sold to overseas investors) it is no wonder that Albanians can no longer afford to exist in their own territory. Of the 3 million Albanians, only half still reside in the country. Of those, 1 million live in the capital.

Our experience was a hospitable, friendly people, adapting to whatever politic the new leadership has aligned to whilst trying to make a way in a barren but beautiful land. The artefacts provide a glimpse into so many histories and ideologies that have been formative in the world in which we live today.

These were not the thoughts going through my head at 0200 on our second evening. Anchored in the bay of Sarande, listening to the constant boom of dance music and Canopus being rockEd heavily on the swell of yet another party Pirate ship as it thread its way dangeroisly through the gaggle of boats all huddled together.

During the day,this anchorage becomes the playground for any motorised waterborne toy - in particular jet skis ridden by complete novices at break neck speeds. I am not sure there is a word in Albanian for health and safety….. in the mid morning on day 2 we heard the inevitable crunch as one ploughed into the aft port corner of Canopus. We were fortunate on 3 counts. Firstly, Canopus is made of stern (no pun intended) stuff a they hit right on the corner - the jet ski definitely calmed off worse. Secondly the riders were unhurt - but they were mere inches away from a lot of sharp gear on the back of the boat (hydro generator mounts, outboard propellor etc etc). Thirdly, the whole incident was witnessed not only by a friendly neighbour but the Albanian police boat. For the next 24hrs we had an effective police patrol!

Albania is not set up for yachts. With a shoreline exposed to the prevailing winds and little protection you can see why. It did feel like we were off the beaten track and had Canopus suffered damage in the jet ski incident I am really not sure what we would have done. On departure, this became even more real as V negotiated 4 very large and sharp metal protrusions on the fuel pontoon. This was after we had also negotiated a stuck anchor at 12m depth and 60m of gear lying on the sea floor. (J is convinced we caught an ancient anchor lying on the sea bottom - evidenced by some shiny metal caught on our anchor chain. We did not drop the anchor again to check!)

Yes - this eerie sea of the Italian coast feels like a relief after a relatively stressful stay in a country that I leave feeling very divided over. Albania is a country that should be vibrant with all the heritage and insight that it has to offer but instead feels like the product of a string of social experiments. Would I like to return? Absolutely - just not on a boat!

So where now? We checked out of Albania on Sunday and are now headed West. To where we are not sure. I write this having passed over the north coast of Corfu and sailing in a gentle breeze towards the “foot” of Italy. We have completed the first full day and gradially getting used to life on a boat. J has suffered from the heat and roll of the boat (this is his first full night asleep in his bunk on passage!), S loving her learning and balancing this with lots of Bluey. L and V gaining confidence in the watch patterns and Canopus. Canopus seems to be settling into the family life. Only slight niggle is a leaking stern gland - suspect this may require atension before too long as we had to empty 5 buckets from the bilge today despite constant surveillance and gland tightening.

We would like to get to Barcelona in one - but recognise this may be a challenge. The winds are unusually quiet and whilst they did support a southerly route a low pressure system is moving in dissapatimg what little wind was forecast. So we may run out of fuel or packing on our stern glandbefore we reach our aim. Either way I have a rendezvous in the Alps on the 20th to pick up the final crew member - a moment that we are all looking forward to. I wonder whether he has any concept of what his latest existence is going to be all about.....

Right then, need to get a Grib file, tune the radar and do the washing up.

Ciao!
The crew of Canopus